


Didn't Get to Say Goodbye

by deliciousshame



Series: Trope Bingo Round Four [3]
Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Airplane Crashes, M/M, Presumed Dead
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-27
Updated: 2015-04-27
Packaged: 2018-03-25 23:38:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3829144
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deliciousshame/pseuds/deliciousshame
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tetsuya was eating breakfast when he heard. That was Aomine-kun's flight they were talking about.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Didn't Get to Say Goodbye

It was 1:45 AM, local time, when Aomine-kun’s plane left Los Angeles. 

At 6:00, the plane should have stopped at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport.

At 7:18, Tetsuya hears about the plane crashing in the ocean, leaving no survivor. 

At 7:43, he got a message from Kagami-kun, asking him if he was fine, thought: “I can’t do this”, and turned off his phone. 

Ten seconds ago, he last tried to stop thinking about Aomine-kun’s body sinking in the water, unrecoverable.

_________________________

“Seriously, I’m only going to check things out. I’ll be back before you know it.”

Tetsuya has plenty of reasons to be worried. Not only Aomine-kun isn’t bringing Momoi-san, making him a public menace, he decided he’s going by himself to a place he isn’t familiar with while having an incomplete grasp of the local language. This is a disaster waiting to happen. “Please don’t cause too much trouble.”

“Dai-chan, are you sure about this? I’m sure I could arrange something.”

Aomine-kun sighs loudly enough to attract the attention of passersby. “You two are so annoying. I’m not going to miss you at all. Everything will be fine.”

“Dai-chan!”

“Enough. I’m going. See you later.”

So the two of them let him leave, their general lack of faith in Aomine-kun’s capacity to be a competent adult without supervision obvious for all to see on their faces. 

It isn’t the last time he heard from Aomine-kun. He got a few emails, mostly about basketball. Scouting had been the point of the trip after all. 

So his last words aren’t anything meaningful, and his last memory of him, nothing special. 

_________________________

His mother comes knocking on his door, asking if he’s fine, if he needs anything, but he sends her back with a few words each time. He doesn’t want to see her. He’ll be fine, he’ll get through this, but not now. Not for a while. He knows he’ll still see Aomine-kun behind his eyelids for some time. 

She understands, a little. She has met Aomine-kun before. She doesn’t insist he leaves his room. He stays there, unmoving, wondering why the last time he felt so powerless was when Aomine-kun left him behind back in Teikou, when now he can tell there was so much he could have done, so much he did to mend that breach. 

This time, there is nothing he can do to get Aomine-kun back. 

_________________________

He discovers that the night came and went when his alarm rings. Did he sleep? 

He should probably eat.

His parents are worried. Of course they are. He’ll apologise when he can find the energy to do so.

His father goes to work. His mother warns him she’s going out to run errands. He doesn’t mind. It doesn’t matter. Just the idea of checking his phone, going through messages and condolences, leaves him drained. He goes back to bed, trying to shield himself with sleep.

He’s woken up by insistent knocking at his front door. Some people are really inconsiderate. He buries his head under his pillow. It doesn’t work. 

If that knocking doesn’t stop soon, the neighbors will complain. Tetsuya isn’t in a mood to deal with either. Still, he drags himself out of bed long enough to tell whoever is bothering him to please go annoy someone else.

He’s aware he isn’t at his best. Hopefully that’ll just convince the annoyance to depart earlier. He answers the door with the most exasperated “Yes” he can manage today.

Aomine-kun appears from the other side of the door, blinding him to anything else. “Finally. Check your stupid phone from time to time, I wouldn’t have to come see if you’re still alive. Wow, you look like shit.”

Tetsuya raises a hand and pokes Aomine-kun’s cheek.

“The hell?”

“You’re alive.”

“Yes, that’s why I’m here. You’d know if you hadn’t turned your phone off.”

That certainly sounds like Aomine-kun. 

Another poke won’t hurt. 

Or it wouldn’t, but Aomine-kun and his stupid reflexes bat his hand away. “Stop it.”

People don’t get into catastrophic airplane crashes and just come back the next day. Life isn’t that convenient and Tetsuya isn’t that stupid. “Why are you alive?”

Oh. Aomine-kun is blushing. “So I missed my plane and took the next one. Sue me. It literally saved my life.”

Of course. Aomine-kun by himself couldn’t do such a simple thing as following a schedule, and because he’s Aomine-kun it turned out to his advantage. That’s so him, it’s then, even as he’s laughing, that it hits him, _Aomine-kun is really here_. He can tell his laughter is turning slightly hysteric, that tears are falling from his eyes, that he’s embarrassing Aomine-kun.

Aomine-kun pulls him in, patting his back awkwardly. Nothing in his life has ever been so comforting. “Hey, Tetsu, don’t cry. I’m here, okay? Please stop crying. I’m so tired of people crying when they see me.”

Tetsuya clings to the fabric of Aomine-kun’s shirt, focuses on his warmth, breathes in deeply until he gets back some measure of control. His voice is still shaky when he speaks: ”I’ll stop if you promise never to do this again.”

“I swear, okay, just stop.”

Tetsuya isn’t letting go. “Bring me along next time.”

Aomine-kun’s hands become less frantic in their petting as they both calm down. “That’s a bad idea. We would have been on time, so we’d be dead.”

That’s hard to argue with. “Bring me anyway.” If there’s a day he is allowed not to be rational, surely that’s the one. 

“Sure, if you want to risk your life.”

It would be worth it not to deal with this again. “I’m making this a binding promise.” He’s not shaking anymore, his breathing isn’t ragged, but he doesn’t want to let go yet. 

Aomine-kun tilts his head up, wipes a remaining tear and kisses him gently. Tetsuya surges into it, tangles his hand into Aomine-kun’s hair, doesn’t stop the kiss until Aomine-kun frees himself gently. “Sorry, okay?”

Like that is enough. “You’re not forgiven yet.”

Aomine-kun smiles. It’s ridiculous how much he likes it. “Okay, so what do I need to do?"

“I’ll think of something. Stay there until I decide what.”

Aomine-kun takes his hand. “Sure.”


End file.
